Nightly Routine
by Seraina
Summary: A collection of one-shots and drabbles about Teo and the Mechanist. Tales from their life in the Northern Air Temple.
1. Nightly Routine

Teo was startled out of a deep sleep by a loud boom echoed throughout the old temple. He sat up in bed, wide eyes casting about the darkened room that he shared with his father.

"Dad?" He wasn't scared of the dark or of being alone. He was seven years old! He was practically an adult.

When he didn't get an answer, Teo reached down to drag his wheelchair closer to his bed. He grunted a little as his fingers caught the edge of the armrest, but he couldn't quite get a grip. "Come on, come on," he mumbled as he leaned over further to get better leverage. The chair finally rolled closer. Victory!

Now that his chair was closer, he carefully scooted over to the chair, dragging his stupid legs over the side of the bed. He took a moment to arrange himself in his chair and then grabbed the jar of fireflies that sat on his nightstand. A quick shake of the jar woke up the little buggies and he set the now-glowing jar in his lap and started pushing his chair out of the room.

"Dad?" He and his father were the only people on this side of the temple and up on the other floors. He pushed the thought of the upper floors out of his mind, it just upset him thinking about the places he wasn't able to explore.

Another, louder boom rocked the foundation of the temple. A sprinkle of dust fell down on his head and his chair shook with the tremor. "Dad?!" Teo shouted louder and pushed his chair faster, hoping to get out to large room that was his workshop. His worry intensified as he saw the billowing black smoke pouring out of the workshop entrance.

"DAD? Where are you!" He waved his arm in the air, trying to fan the smoke away from his face.

"Spirits that was close!"

Teo was relieved when his father stumbled out of the smoky mess, his face covered in soot. He bent down, resting his hands on his thighs and coughed for a minute before realizing he wasn't alone.

"Teo? What are you doing out of bed?"

"Dad! How can I sleep with all that noise and shaking and… and smoke! Are you okay?" Teo flailed his arms around to make sure his father got the point.

"Oh… OHH!" His father stood straighter and seemed to realize he had been the cause of his son's distress. "I'm so sorry Teo, I got a little carried away back there. Go back to bed and I'll be in soon."

"Well… alright. Please be careful Dad."

The Mechanist smiled down at his son and ruffled his already messy hair. "I will, son."

"You'll be back soon?" Teo learned early on to make sure to ask again. He knew his father was bad with remembering certain things.

"I promise."

Teo nodded and turned his chair around, going back the way he came. He put himself to bed and put the cover over his firefly jar. As soon as he was about to close his eyes, the temple shook with another explosion.

"Why does this always happen?"


	2. Upstairs

Teo sat on the table beside the stove in the little kitchen area in the rooms that he and his father called home. He watched the water boil and the eggs inside cook. His father loved boiled eggs they were his favorite lunch. Every day, Teo sat beside the stove and boiled three eggs to take to his father's workshop. Teo even built a crude timing device based on how long it takes to cook the eggs.

When his timer ran out of sand, Teo carefully fished the cooked eggs out of the hot water. He let the eggs cool in a bowl while he lowered himself from the table back down into his chair. He then grabbed a towel and dried off each egg. As usual, he took an ink brush and painted a smiling face on each one. Now that lunch was finished, he set the bowl of eggs in his lap and headed down to his father's workshop.

"Dad? I made lunch!" Teo shouted into the workshop, but found it strangely empty. "Dad?"

"Teo! There you are!" His father appeared behind him. Teo smiled and turned his chair around.

"I made us some eggs, Dad." Teo presented the "happy eggs" to his father.

"Thank you, Teo." His father reached down to ruffle his hair. "I have something I want to show you."

"What is it?" Teo asked excitedly. He loved that he was always the first to see and try out each new invention his father created.

"How would you like to have lunch upstairs?"

"Whoa, really!?" Teo had been confined to the first floor of the temple due to his disability. Air Nomads didn't think a bout people that couldn't walk when they designed this place.

"I've been working on it for two weeks. Installed it last night." Teo happily followed his father. Usually when adults wanted him to come along, they just grabbed the back of his chair and pushed him. His father never did, he always walked along beside him, or occasionally, put a hand on his shoulder.

His father stood beside a set of poles that extended all the way up to the scaffolding that lead to the second level of the temple with a small cage with a canvas roof on it in the middle. "Well? What do you think?"

"Um… can I try it?" Teo asked, not knowing exactly what it was he was looking at, but he was sure this was the sort of invention that needed a demonstration. His father had a bad habit of assuming that everyone else could read his mind.

"Of course! First, get on the platform there." His father waited for him to push his chair onto the metal circle there. "Now, hold onto the handle there. Yes! Like that." His father pulled a handle and a burst of steam surrounded him. Teo felt a lurch in his stomach as he rocketed Upwards.

The little cage bounced as it caught on the latch meant to stop its ascent and it shuddered with the sudden stop. Teo gripped the handle with one hand and the wheel of his chair with the other. "Whoah! Dad! That was amazing!" Teo leaned over and grinned down at his father, who smiled up at him.

"Alright, Teo, you should be able to get off the lift now."

Teo looked down and saw that the platform was nearly level with the scaffold. He carefully pushed his chair forward, but his front wheels got stuck in the small gap. "Um. I'm stuck." He tried not to panic. Panic always made things worse.

"Hang on son! I'll be right there!" Teo watched his father disappear to the stairwell. He hummed a little tune to himself while he attempted to roll his chair back and forth a little bit, trying to get himself unstuck.

Soon enough, his father appeared and though he was out of breath, he smiled and took hold of the front of Teo's chair and lifted while Teo pushed. Victory! Teo smiled and looked down at the floor below. He was so high up! It was amazing! "Dad this is so great!"

"Let's go have lunch on the balcony."

Teo followed his father throuth the hallways. While it was exciting being in a different part of the temple, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. "Dad?"

"Yes son?" His father stopped and looked down at him.

"It all looks the same as the first floor." He tried not to sound too disappointed. He did love the fact his father built the lift just for him, but he thought the unreachable parts of the temple would be a little more… interesting.

His father chuckled and ruffled his hair. "The rooms do look the same on most of the floors. But this… this is what I wanted you to see." His father opened a set of doors and Teo pushed his chair out onto the balcony.

"Whoa! I can see the whole courtyard! The view is even better from up here!" He got as close to the railing as he could and leaned over the side of his chair, trying to see more.

"Hang on, Teo! Let's not get carried away. How about that lunch?"

"Oh yeah! Here, Dad. Just like you like them!" Teo held out two of the boiled eggs, their shells marked with happy faces. His father smiled and sat down beside him.

"Thank you, son."

When they were done eating, Teo leaned over his chair and wrapped his arms around his father's neck. "I love the lift, Dad."

"I'd do anything for you, Teo."


End file.
